


heard you wanna fight me (in paintball)

by arashiyama (harukatenoh)



Category: World Trigger
Genre: Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Paintball, only tagging POV characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-01-28
Packaged: 2019-03-10 12:58:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13502070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harukatenoh/pseuds/arashiyama
Summary: In an attempt to spice up their usually monotone holiday celebration, and find something everybody can enjoy, Border host a paintball competition. Shenanigans ensue. Casualties are suffered. Paint is spilled.





	heard you wanna fight me (in paintball)

**Author's Note:**

> posting [technically] christmas fic in january... who's gonna stop me?  
> anyway i love border and all of its members and all of the ridiculous shit that i can think of them doing
> 
> work title is from fight by the stereophones

The problem with Christmas at Border was that nobody ever knew what to do for it.

They were always at a loss for any Christmas time celebrations or traditions, due to the wide age range of the people employed there. The upper echelons and older members only ever wanted to party and get drunk, the younger members wanted present giving and lighthearted celebration, and most years, there was a half-hearted lunch party with some attempted presents and attempted drinking that usually ended in mild disaster.

Shirou was a little at a loss, however, as to how the people organizing the Christmas event settled on _paintball_ as the best compromise. He, personally, had been fine with the half-assed lunch. He got free food and an excuse to leave early.

Utagawa, crouching next to him, frowned down at his phone. “Looks like Izumi-senpai, Yoneya-senpai and Midorikawa have met up. They’re going to be dangerous,”

Briefly forgetting that he was participating in a rigorous game of paintball, and not in a rank battle, Shirou’s mind switches over to tactics.

“Only Izumi-senpai works well in long distance. The other two are attackers, so they’ll be at a disadvantage,” he replied automatically. Then, after remembering exactly what position he was in, he gave a grimace. “Wait, they’re on different units. Are they allowed to team up?”

Utagawa gave him an amused smile. “Those three always do what they want.” He pointed out, which was a fair thing to say. “And, you’re an attacker too, you know.” That didn’t help with lifting Shirou’s grimace at all.

“Which brings me back to: why are we even doing this. Even if it wasn’t _ridiculous_ , which it is, just for the record, it gives an unfair advantage to snipers and gunners,” He said dryly. Utagawa just sighed, like he usually did whenever Shirou got into one of his moods.

“It was what got the most votes. Come on, let’s find the captain and we’ll make a strategy from there.” Utagawa said, nudging Shirou to the left, down some alley in the map they were all playing in.

Shirou brightened considerably at the mention of their captain. He could admit that the idea of his unit coming out on top in this game did seem pretty great. It was too bad they weren’t allowed operators; he was pretty sure most of them were participating, actually. Paint was easier to come by than trion, he supposed.

He and Utagawa broke into a sprint as the crossed the road. They were close to safety in an alley on the other side when he heard something coming towards them; his danger instincts kicking in immediately as he yelled “ _DUCK!_ ” before dropping to the ground with a roll.

In the spot where his head had just been, a bullet whizzed past, breaking onto the wall nearby in a vivid shade of cyan.

There was only one person using that colour.

“Shit, Jin-san has found us!”

The low chuckle was clear in Shirou’s ears as he made a run for it.

* * *

 

Ken wasn’t having a good time. Not only had he been told by the person organizing the tournament that he _had_ to hold the gun with both hands and therefore couldn’t double wield, he had been split off from the rest of his unit.

It wasn’t that bad, as a sniper he was used to being far from them, but he was also used to having Ayatsuji’s reassuring voice to guide him through the map. Ayatsuji had decided to join them on the field today, which was great but didn’t help Ken’s current position at all.

In short, he was screwed.

He couldn’t decide whether it was better to stay put or to move around the map trying to look for his unit. It was likely that they were looking for him too—Arashiyama wouldn’t abandon him—but was it better to go look for them too or to wait until they found him? Waiting left him vulnerable, since there wasn’t a lot of cover in this map for him to hide in and wait it out, but moving around could prolong the search greatly.

There were voices drawing by. He panicked, putting his gun up, waiting for the group of people to draw around the corner. This was it for him. Arashiyama Unit would have to go without one of their own. If he was lucky, he might be able to take some of the group out before he went down. It was too bad there was nobody to witness him going down in a blaze of glory.

Somebody appeared in front of him, gun drawn.

Oh no.

“Hey guys,” said Midorikawa, wicked light in his eyes, “I found something.”

Behind him followed Yoneya and Izumi, just like Ken had feared. Somebody would have to send Arashiyama unit his last words. Say goodbye for him. This was definitely the end.

“Hi there,” Yoneya said cheerfully. Ken wouldn’t fall for that. He knew exactly what danger lurked behind Yoneya’s happy-go-lucky attitude.

He narrowed his eyes at them in suspicion.

“Ooh,” Izumi purred, sounding delighted. Ken would’ve been pretty happy to see him too, if he was in any other position. He, unfortunately, had the lower hand. “Looks like somebody got separated from the herd,”

“A poor, lost soul,” Yoneya followed.

Ken lowered his gun. If he lured them into a sense of security by seeming like he was giving up, he could get the jump on them. Maybe take out two of them. At the very least, take out Izumi.

“Hello Izumi-senpai, Yoneya-senpai, Midorikawa,” He said bitterly.

“What should we do with him?” Midorikawa asked, jabbing his gun in the direction of Ken a few times in what Ken had to assume were a poor excuse for intimidation tactics. He couldn’t be intimidated by somebody shorter than him. Unless it was Kitora. But she was a special case. She could probably out-glare Director Kido.

That was a pretty funny image, actually. He would have to tell the rest of his unit.

…If he ever got back to them alive. That brought him back to the problem at hand.

“He looks so lost,” Izumi said, just to rub it in. Ken was considering his chances of getting a headshot on Izumi in time, before Yoneya and Midorikawa jumped on him. “Hey, how about you join us?”

Ken stared at Izumi, then Yoneya, then Midorikawa. All of them seemed perfectly happy with the idea, which shocked Ken. Was it all an elaborate set-up to get him with his guard down?

He glared suspiciously. “I’m not a traitor to my unit.”

“Hey, we aren’t traitors,” Midorikawa piped up with, stepping closer to Ken. At this distance, he managed to be a little menacing. Ken could never be comfortable with an enemy attacker being that close to him. “We aren’t attacking our units,”

Izumi and Yoneya nodded.

“We’ll leave Arashiyama unit alone if we come across them,” Yoneya reassured. “If you want, you can even rejoin them,”

Izumi snorted. “That just makes me feel like we’re escorting him,”

Yoneya shrugged, shouldering Izumi playfully. It made Ken’s hands itch to pull the trigger on Yoneya, just a little. “You were the one who wanted him to join.”

“It was just a suggestion!” Izumi protested. It looked like Yoneya and Izumi were about to devolve into pointless bickering, when Ken heard footsteps. His head shot around, trying to find the source.

“We’ve got company,” he warned, lifting his gun up again. Immediately, all three of them tense and assume battle positions.

“So, truce?” Izumi offered, sticking out his hand to Ken. He hesitated a bit, which he will stress on when explaining to his unit—mostly Kitora—why he ended up joining the three, but he took Izumi’s hand firmly.

Izumi’s grin, and the matching one on the faces of Yoneya and Midorikawa, promised things. Promised fun. Promised trouble.

Promised victory.

Ken felt the competition singing in his veins as his sniper training took over.

“Let’s go!” Midorikawa yelled, running onto the street with his gun at the ready.

* * *

 Rei looked around the corner briefly, spying the backs of an unsuspecting Suwa Unit walking away from her. If there was ever a good time to attack, it was now.

She turned back to her unit, all crowded behind her and waiting for her signal.

She whispered “Ready?”, meeting Kuma’s eyes as she did. They all nodded, but she only concentrated on the determined look Kumagai had.

“Let’s get it,” Kumagai said softly, with a smile. It sent Rei’s heart pounding, in a way that adrenaline couldn’t quite manage.

She signalled.

They burst around the corner, firing away.

Suwa Unit was quick to respond, with confused shouts and angry instructions yelled out as one of their members went down in a dark pink assault.

Rei felt Kumagai step beside her, firing shot after shot as Suwa unit dove into the bushes that lined the road. She beckoned to her unit with her hand, drawing them out of the open a little so they were less vulnerable.

Hiura was grinning. “I got one!” She exclaimed happily, waving her gun as Rei looked around the corner again. She could see Suwa himself reprimanding his unit member for getting hit, and mourned the loss of her triggers. The fight would’ve been so easily won if she had them.

Instead, she had to work with the clunky paintball gun, waiting for when Suwa Unit showed themselves properly so that she could make an attack.

Turning back to her unit, she motioned to Hiura. “Can you take Tsutsumi-san?” She asked.

Hiura nodded confidently, replying with “I’ll make you proud, Captain!”

Rei smiled at her in return. She was going to miss her so much. There was no time for that now, though. Rei moved her focus to Kumagai, who was watching her with a half-smile on her face. Rei wanted to ask why but, well, she _knew_ why, it was just a bit embarrassing to think about.

“You and I are going for Suwa-san.” She told Kumagai. Kumagai’s smile grew into a proper one, and she nodded.

“I got your back, Rei,” Kumagai said, and Rei felt confidence rush in like waves. They could do this.

She looked around the corner again—and saw Suwa Unit mobilizing.

“It’s time.” She called, as she rushed forward, knowing that Kumagai was following right behind.

Shoot, aim. She raised her gun and pulled the trigger as soon as Suwa did, making sure that she was just that bit faster, just that bit better.

She ducked in time for the bullet that Suwa sent at her to miss, but Suwa wasn’t so lucky. The paintball glanced off of his shoulder, which wasn’t where Rei had been aiming, but a hit was a hit, even if it wasn’t vital. Suwa just scowled and raised his gun to aim again.

Behind her, Rei heard Hiura’s cry of dismay and realized she must have been taken out. That was bad.

She got to her feet and barely dodged the next shot Suwa sent at her, firing off a bullet or two of her own that didn’t find their mark. No matter, she could handle this. She saw some bullets flying towards Suwa that she didn’t shoot as well, meaning that Kumagai was still alive. They could still make this.

She aimed again, and this time, her shot found true dead in the centre of Suwa’s chest. He shouted in frustration, looking down at the pink splatter on his clothing as Rei grinned.

In her happiness, she didn’t see the bullet coming towards her, shot by Tsutsumi. However, Kumagai did.

“Rei, watch out!” Kumagai yelled, grabbing Rei by the shoulder and pulling her back in time to cover her. Rei watched in horror as the shot, which would’ve made its home on her side, hit Kumagai in the back instead as she threw herself in front of Rei.

Kumagai’s eyes met hers. Rei’s gaze widened in horror.

“Yuuko, no!” She gasped as Kumagai stumbled to the ground.

She pushed forward, gun raised and blood pounding as she focused her aim on Tsutsumi, who was desperately trying to reload.

“ _How dare you,_ ” she hissed as she fired off shot after shot, emptying the rest of her clip as Tsutsumi got covered in the distinct pink paint. The sight was enough to assuage her pain at seeing the green stain blossoming on Kumagai’s back, but not much.

She sent a haughty glare towards Suwa Unit, who were regrouping with sighs, and motioned to her own unit to rejoin her.

Kumagai came up to stand beside her, with a strange look in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Rei asked, wondering if the paint bullet had hurt her or something. Kumagai shook her head.

“Nothing, nothing. It’s just…” Kumagai trailed off. Then, she grinned, throwing an arm around Rei. “My hero,” She said fondly.

Oh. The strange look, placed in context, was suddenly less strange. With a hesitant smile, Rei leaned over and tapped her cheek. “Do I get a kiss for saving you?” She asked coyly.

Kumagai laughed softly and pressed a soft kiss to Rei’s cheek. Rei’s heart was honest-to-god _fluttering_ as Kumagai moved back and they stared into each other’s eyes.

Then, she heard Hiura squeak. Both she and Kumagai looked over at the girl.

“S—sorry!” She squeaked again. “It’s just, kinda weird seeing you do that, cause you guys are like the parents of the unit,”

Her face was red. It was adorable.

Rei felt herself laughing, her mouth stretched so wide it hurt. She ended up leaning a little on Kumagai for support as she covered her mouth with one hand and clutched her stomach with the other, feeling more alive than she had in a while.

**Author's Note:**

> fyi, kazama unit manage to come first. due to the defectors izumi, yoneya, midorikawa and satori, a lot of the other units that are renowned for strong teamwork are missing members, so they lose out to kazama unit who have all members intact. kitora calls satori a traitor for a month afterwards


End file.
